


come sail away with me - the remix

by Zoa



Series: The Reylo Tales: My Collection of Reylo One-Shots [14]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fic Remix, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Happily Ever After, Happy Ending, Humor, No Smut, the yachting au no one asked for, unresolved feelings get resolved, we're smutless this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26464750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoa/pseuds/Zoa
Summary: Rey Niima is the new chief steward aboard the luxury yacht, Falcon, and Ben Solo is the hard to read first mate. They feud all season until finally the tension breaks and they give in to the feelings they’ve been denying.I've been wanting to put up a smut-less version of this one for a while now and decided to just up and do it. Hope y'all enjoy!
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: The Reylo Tales: My Collection of Reylo One-Shots [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691227
Comments: 13
Kudos: 45





	come sail away with me - the remix

Rey’s first season as chief steward of a luxury yacht had definitely _not_ gotten off to a great start. When the captain of the _Falcon_ had put out the call he’d needed a new interior chief, she’d practically flung herself at him, eager to leave the less-than-hospitable position as the third steward on the _Jakku_. That barge was a mess and the day she debarked was the best day of her young life.

The good feelings kept on coming when she boarded the _Falcon_ and met her new crew.

Captain Han Solo seemed a bit rough around the edges but overall he was a vast improvement on her last captain. Plutt was the definition of the _worst_.

Rey’s interior crew were an incredible assortment she couldn’t have dreamed up. Finn, as her second, was maybe a little too friendly for Rey’s tastes but a hard worker. A blonde named Kaydel was her third. She was a lovely girl, around Rey’s age with a generous spirit that never seemed to waver. Paige was the chef and Rey thanked her lucky stars that she was finally on a ship with edible food.

She swore that one time on the _Jakku_ she was fed a literal rock.

The deck crew was a more motley assortment: Phasma led as the rare female bosun; Poe was her second and was the most self-assured man Rey had ever met; the shy, easily irritated Armie Hux filled out the group. Rose Tico, Paige’s sister, was the ship’s engineer and no one - _no one_ \- was allowed to touch anything down there. She was also one of the most insightful people Rey had ever known and the pair took to each other like a fish to water.

All of them were people Rey could get along with; she’d finally found a good place in the industry she loved and for the first time in a long while she was excited for the yachting season.

Until she met the _Falcon’s_ first mate.

Rey had wondered where he was; she’d been on the ship two whole days getting settled and hadn’t seen even a glimpse of the reclusive Ben Solo, the captain’s son.

Phasma said he liked being in the control room, helming the ship in solitude until and unless anyone on deck needed him.

Of course he had to be at crew meetings. Which is where Rey first saw him.

Sitting in the _Falcon’s_ swank lounge between Rose and Finn, Rey was having an inane conversation with Finn when Han walked in with the elusive first mate.

The first thing Rey registered was his height; the man was a literal fucking tree. And broad. He was wearing a soft, white knit tee with the _Falcon’s_ logo over the right breast; much like the black one Rey now sported except he filled his out like a refrigerator.

Once she got done ogling the rest of him, Rey took in his face. Unique and asymmetrical, peppered beautifully with moles that tempted her to draw patterns between them; when her eyes drifted to his lips her first thought was that she wanted to bite them.

_What the fuck is wrong with me?_ Rey exhaled a shaky breath and shifted a little in her seat. She almost _never_ had such a visceral reaction to a man. No. She’d _absolutely_ never had such a visceral reaction to a man. Sure, she’d had her fair share of lusty thoughts but this… that mouth was taking her mind places she didn’t know her mind was capable of going.

Then he opened that big, fat luscious mouth.

It was after the meeting, when Han had disappeared and left the crew to prepare for the next guests. The captain had given a brief official welcome to Rey during which she thought she caught the first mate looking at her but when she turned her head to catch his gaze, he diverted. Or was never eyeing her at all.

Maybe it was wishful thinking on her part.

All the same, Rey thought, since she’d made personal introductions to the rest of the crew, she should make one to the only person she hadn’t spoken with yet. She stepped up to him just as he was about to leave. Somehow it hadn’t really sunk in just how _big_ he was until she was standing right in front him. She wasn’t short but he towered over her.

“Hi!” She extended her hand, having to crane her neck a little. “I’m Rey. I know Han already introduced me to the group but I like making my own introductions.”

Ben froze, his eyes - brown with specks of gold that captivated Rey so much she might get lost looking in them - widened to a near comical level. He glanced at her hand but didn’t take it. He opened his mouth. Rey expected the typical greeting in return. A ‘hi, welcome aboard’. Or maybe ‘Welcome to the team’.

That was not what she got.

“Okay.”

The word itself wasn’t an issue. It was the way he said it. Like he was surprised she was speaking to him. Maybe he was shy. Although he didn’t seem to have a problem talking with the others a minute ago.

“Um,” she cleared her throat, dropping her hand, confused. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Okay.”

Rey’s brow furrowed. “Just ‘okay’?”

It appeared that now Solo was confused. “Yeah.”

“Are you only able to speak in two syllable sentences?” Rey snapped, irritated for a reason she didn’t quite understand. He hadn’t really been rude. But it seemed like he was _annoyed_ and that annoyed _her_.

There was a pause in which his left eye - or rather the muscle beneath it - twitched.

“No.”

Then he left, leaving Rey staring after him with a slack jaw.

Shy?

No.

He was an asshole.

****

That first meeting was three cruises ago. Rey had thought with time things would get better, that their initial interaction had been a bad day for him.

She’d come to realize that _every_ day was a bad day for him.

“I hate him.” Rey mumbled under her breath, scrubbing at the already pristine bathroom counter of the master guest room with deadly effort. “I hate him in his stupid boat shoes. His stupid sun glasses. His stupid shorts. His stupid shirts.” She huffed. “They don’t even fit him. Always straining over those stupid muscles…” Rey paused and glared at herself in the mirror. “Where does he even find the time to work out? And with what?” She asked her reflection. “A fucking anchor?”

Honestly, it was unfair for a man as attractive as that to be so… not nice.

She had to admit, though, he was a good first mate. When he did come out of his roost and interact with the rest of the crew, he was always fair. Sometimes tough, but fair.

Rey paused in her attack on the sink. Now that she thought about it, he interacted fine with the crew on a social basis, too. He was quiet, yes, but not hateful.

So it was just her.

“Perfect,” she muttered. “Perfect.”

This was going to be a long season.

****

Rey rued the day she complained Ben Solo didn’t speak enough. Sometime during the fifth cruise the dam broke and he wouldn’t shut up. It seemed that whenever he got the chance, he’d question her leadership, her decisions, the way she organized the interior, and sometimes all three at once.

She exploded one day and they got into a yelling match that forced Han to intercede and give them both a stern shout of his own.

After that they avoided each other as much as possible. Or at least, she avoided him. It seemed he didn’t care as much which annoyed her the most.

Sometimes she thought she caught him staring at her. A quick glance, a wistful flick of his eyes. But she told herself she was imagining it. There was no way he was looking at her in any way other than annoyance.

A change came when she least expected it.

Halfway through the season they had a particularly persnickety client. Not persnickety. Privileged and rude. A downright prick. Everyone hated the man and his group of asshole friends and were glad when they were gone. But Rey’d had the worst of it. As soon as they were on board they had an issue with the interior, and as Rey was the chief steward, she took responsibility. Rey did her best to accommodate them, but some of their demands were ridiculous. In the end, Rey did some of her best work as a chief steward but it didn’t matter. They actually _complained_ to Han about it, calling Rey out for an attitude issue she never had.

Han didn’t pay it any mind, much to Rey’s relief. But the crew received the lowest tips so far and Rey couldn’t help but blame herself. Maybe she hadn’t done enough. Maybe her irritation with the clients had been obvious. She thought she’d worked hard and been polite and courteous but… maybe she’d failed.

Everybody said they were angry at the client, not at her. They reassured her and Rey plastered on a fake smile she’d mastered and said she understood; that she was fine. 

As soon as the rants were done Han ordered everybody to clean up and go enjoy themselves ashore.

While everyone partied away their irritation, Rey stayed behind, claiming a headache. Rose and Kaydel had begged Rey to go ashore, get a little drunk, and dance the bad cruise away. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. Once they were gone she changed out of her short skirt into lounge pants and made her way to the bow of the ship, clambering over the silver railing to sit cross-legged on the widest part of its tapered point. She wanted solitude. Away from the rest of the crew. Just her and the horizon.

The sun had just hidden itself beneath the waves to the west, casting the water in a purple-orange twilight that soothed and calmed Rey’s troubled mind.

“You shouldn’t be sitting there.”

His deep voice rolled to her like thunder from a distant storm. Rey sighed but didn’t bother to turn and look at whatever disapproving scowl was set on Solo’s face.

“I know.”

Silence.

“You could fall off.”

“At this point I’m not sure I care.”

More silence followed. Then a grunt and the shocking sound of him walking over the ship’s fiber hull to join her. Rey frowned at him as he settled himself down beside her, stretching out his legs and leaning back on his hands.

“That guy was a dick.” Solo shot her a side-look.

“What?”

“He was a dick.” He repeated. “You did a good job. Your best work probably since you’ve been here.”

Rey’s jaw hit the deck. He’d never praised her work. In fact, he’d gone out of his way to tell her all the ways she was doing her job wrong. Which she argued. To hear this now…

“What are you doing?”

Solo seemed surprised by the question. “I’m… telling you not to worry about that guy. He didn’t know what he was talking about.”

“That’s rich coming from you.” Rey snapped, at the end of her proverbial rope. “You’ve done the same thing!”

Now he looked shocked. “I have?”

A bitter laugh shot out of Rey. “Are you really that dense?” She asked. “You barely speak to me but when you do, you make sure to nitpick something about the interior! You’re just as bad. And I’m tired. I’m tired of people telling me how to do my job and tired of feeling like I don’t know what I’m doing at all.” Rey swallowed back tears and focused on the ocean before them. “Maybe I don’t. Maybe I’m not as good as I think I am.”

A few seconds passed in silence, then:

“I’m sorry.”

Rey twisted so fast she thought she hurt something. “Excuse me?”

Solo cleared his throat, sitting up straighter. “I’m sorry. For what I said. I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but I was trying to help.”

“Help?” Rey repeated, a brow going up. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.” He glanced at her. “Did nothing I said get through?”

Rey lifted her chin to shake her head but stopped short. There had a been a couple of things he’d mentioned, now that she thought about it. He’d suggested - to use the polite term - a few strategies that she had tried out once she’d calmed down and begrudgingly had to admit that they might have - maybe - worked.

“N-not nothing,” she stammered, looking down. She could feel his eyes on her and had to resist the urge to squirm. “The flowchart _might_ have been helpful.”

“Huh.”

Rey could hear how smug he was without having to look at him.

“Okay,” she gave him a look and sure enough he was sitting there with the slightest smirk on his face. “You had one good idea. But your delivery sucks.”

Solo bobbed his head. “Granted. And I’m sorry. But you’re stubborn and proud.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Rey leaned away from him in indignation.

He had the audacity to snort. “Because you don’t like being told that maybe there’s a better way to do something. Especially from someone you don’t like.”

That took her by surprise.

“I-I never said I didn’t like you.”

“Sure seems like you don’t.”

Was he really pouting right now?

“Well,” Rey scowled. “That’s _your_ fault.” He gave her a quizzical look at which she rolled her eyes. “You were so rude that first day!”

Solo blinked at her like he had no idea what she was on about. “You mean when we talked?”

“That wasn’t a ‘we talked’ situation, Solo.” Rey couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. “That was me extending the branch of friendship and you snapping it in half.”

“I didn’t think more needed to be said,” he muttered moodily. Rey didn’t sense any disingenuousness. He really thought that.

“Okay, so…” She pressed her lips together as she formed her thoughts. “We’re just really bad at communicating?”

He huffed a laugh. “I guess so.”

“That figures.” Rey sighed. “Do you want to start over?” She extended a hand. “It’ll make the rest of the season go more smoothly if we get along.”

“And that will get my dad off my back.” He took her hand - completely enveloping it with his bear paw - and they shook. “What does this make us now? Friends?”

“Let’s say acquaintances and save the F-word until we see what happens.” Despite her statement, Rey smiled.

Then he smiled and her heart flipped twice in her chest.

“We, um, we should probably go before Han yells at us both.” She drew her knees up in preparation to stand. He nodded slowly, the expression on his face thoughtful as it stared into hers.

“Probably.”

Rey couldn’t bear the strange feelings bubbling up in her chest and she rushed to get up and get away from him to clear her head, but in her haste she did exactly what he’d warned her about.

Her bare foot slipped on the slick fiberglass and she very nearly toppled into the ocean but Ben was up and had wrapped a thick arm around her waist in two seconds flat. Rey sucked in a sharp breath, not just from being jerked back to the center, but she was suddenly held snug against his chest which was not a place she’d ever expected to be.

A few seconds of awkward closeness ensued, during which Rey couldn’t decide if she liked being that close to him or she didn’t. He smelled nice; like sandalwood and the ocean. Deciding that she did like being held by him and that was a problem, Rey cleared her throat and pressed her hand to his chest. He immediately withdrew his arm but didn’t otherwise make a move to part from her. Rey found herself under his strange scrutiny once again, but it was softer this time. Less searching and more like… savoring. She was transfixed.

Until he opened that mouth again.

“I told you.”

Spell broken, Rey could not help rolling her eyes. “Way to ruin a good moment, Solo.”

That smile cracked his face and Rey felt herself melt a little.

_Damn it._

****

The season progressed much, much differently from that point. There were still heated discussions between them, but Rey now understood where he was coming from and that changed her response a little bit. A _little_ bit. He still had the tendency to be an insufferable know it all. But in between their arguments, Rey and Ben were downright friendly with each other, which freaked the others out.

“Did he hit his head or something?” Rose exclaimed one weekend as she and Rey stood in the ship’s laundry room. “Did _you_ hit your head?”

Rey laughed, unperturbed. “No, no. We just… came to an accord.” She continued to fold the clean towels, setting the finished ones on top of the dryer before moving to the next.

“By some kind of miracle.” Rose snorted. “So, hey,” she nudged Rey’s arm with a finger and gave a sly look. “Do you still think he’s the hottest thing you’ve seen since you accidentally looked into the sun?”

“I regret telling you that,” Rey groaned. “And yes, but it’s not going anywhere. We’re getting close to being friends. And that’s enough.”

“Maybe for you. But I’m pretty sure he likes you.”

Rey froze. “W-what makes you say that?”

A coy smile fell over Rose’s expression and she folded her arms over her chest. “The way he stares after you when you leave the room. I’m predicting that you two will canoodle-” Rey shot her a bewildered look but Rose ignored her “-before the last charter. Or my name’s not Rose Tico.”

****

Rose’s prediction was eerily spot on.

During another argument that Rey may or may not have have instigated by teasing him about his tidiness, Ben called her ‘mouthy’ and stalked away toward his quarters.

Rey, insulted, followed after him, insisting he apologize. She tugged on his arm and forced him to turn but when he did her brain short-circuited. There was a grin on his face; he was enjoying their fight, she realized. He enjoyed _all_ their fights.

She pushed him into his quarters and followed after him, closing the door halfway.

“You like it when we fight!” she accused.

“Do I?” He gave her an innocent look she didn’t buy for a second.

“You do! You start shit on purpose! What the fuck, Solo?”

“You started this one.” He pointed out, smug. “Maybe you’re the one who likes to fight.”

Oh, how she wanted to wipe that stupid smile off his face. In fact…

Rey’s eyes dropped to that luscious, kissable mouth and didn’t have an explanation for what happened next. Only that one second she was glaring at him and the next her mouth was on his, her fingers curled into the collar of his shirt.

Her brain regained some hold over her actions and Rey pulled away but she couldn’t stop shaking. Ben was staring at her with a heaving chest and an unreadable gaze.

Like the proverbial ton of bricks, it hit her that she’d just done something incredibly inappropriate. Lose her job kind of inappropriate. She needed to fix it. Pronto.

“I-I’m sorr-”

Rey didn’t finish because he slammed his mouth back against hers and pushed her against the door to his room, the movement shutting it with a crack loud enough that anyone who was around had to have heard. Rey groaned as he flattened himself against her and slid her hands up his chest and over his broad shoulders.

So he felt it, too.

“Ben…” She tried to make it sound normal but the word came out in a breathless moan and he gentled his touch, relieving some of the pressure on her body. But she didn’t want that and curled her fingers into his shirt again to stop him from moving too far away. “I, uh, I think I…”

“I know.” He interrupted and touched his forehead to hers. “Me too.”

Rey swallowed, her throat dry, and met his eyes. She hoped they were on the same page. Nothing to do but take the plunge. “I want more than just a yacht fling.”

A smile tugged at one side of his mouth. “I do, too.”

“Really?” Rey’s fingers tightened their hold on his shirt; her heart beat so fast she thought it would burst.

“Really,” he nodded. “Rey…” An expression of pure, innocent, scared sincerity was appeared on his face. “I want you. With me. All the time. Talking. Fighting. Kissing… More… Everything. You’re amazing. Every part of you. Strong, kind, compassionate, incredible. I…” he stopped and licked his lips, an action Rey couldn’t help watching. “Rey?”

“I do, too.” She blurted, forcing her eyes up. “I want that. I’ve never… I’ve never felt more… more like I have a _home_ than I do with you.”

He graced her with a smile so loving she wanted to cry. No one had ever smiled at her like that.

“Sweetheart, that’s all I ever want to give you.”


End file.
